Companies caught violating the Labor Standards Act
遲到一小時扣六千 僱主違勞基法

Tue, Jan 07, 2014 - Page 11

The Taipei City Government Labor Inspection Office at the end of last year received several complaints from employees working for companies in the broadcast media, security and food and beverage sectors. Among them, one media company was allegedly deducting NT$100 from employee paychecks for every minute that they were late to work, or NT$6,000 for being an hour late. A private security company and other companies were forcing employees to bear the cost of the uniforms they were required to wear, deducting the cost from their wages. All of these actions violate the requirement in the Labor Standards Act that states wages must be paid in full. Those failing to do so can be fined between NT$200,000 and NT$300,000.

Department of Labor Chief Secretary Wu Meng-lin says that among the three companies that were investigated after receiving the complaints, it was found that the media company was using management as an excuse to dock workers’ wages for being late. According to the act, the amount being deducted for tardiness cannot exceed the calculated amount of an employee’s average hourly wages, Wu says, adding that deducting NT$6,000 for being an hour late is completely disproportionate.

The companies that created these unlawful requirements have been asked to amend them and the Taipei City Government Department of Labor will decide whether the names of the companies that broke the law will be made public.